Can Tablets Save Newspapers?

Photo by George Kelly

Last Thursday, Apple released iOS 5, its updated operating system. Among its new features was Newsstand, which will house the latest issues of titles that an iPad or iPhone user subscribes to.

Publishers are excited about this new feature, hoping that the increased visibility provided by Newsstand will sell more subscriptions. The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as The New Yorker, Wired and Vanity Fair are some of the first publications that can be accessed through Newsstand.

It’s no secret that newspaper publishers have had trouble in the past years with subscriptions dwindling and advertisers, in some cases, following suit.

But in the past year it seems that publishers have set their hopes on mobile apps to help recruit subscribers.

If they are hoping that mobile will pull them out of their funk, then the results of a new study from the BBC and Starcom MediaVest, which implies that tablet users are more enthusiastic consumers of news and have stronger feelings for the news sites they frequent, will really put some smiles on their faces and, hopefully, money in their pockets.

According to the study, which was reported by Media Post, almost 8 in 10 tablet owners, or 78%, say they read more stories and follow a greater diversity of news topics than before they owned a tablet and 48% rely on tablet news apps.

It seems that the visual aspects and interactive features in the app experience are also adding to tablet owners’ higher news consumption. In fact, 80% found the overall news experience on a tablet to be better than on a computer or mobile phone. Stories felt “more real" for another 63%.

Just to drive home how hard-core tablet users are about their news apps, 44% said they would rather give up coffee before their news apps and 44% said they would rather give up Facebook.

As a habitual newsfeed and status checker, like most people I know, it would take something pretty amazing to make me give up my Facebook!

It seems that the news industry may have found not only people that will subscribe, but also some new evangelists for their industry.

In addition to this, tablet owners, in terms of demographics, are an attractive group to advertisers. They are more accepting towards advertising and are more likely to answer call-to-actions after viewing ads. In an industry where the ability to advertisers means you sink of swim, a tablet audience means that you swim.

The downside in all of this is that only about 5% of U.S. consumers own a tablet, according to Nielson. That means that while there is a market, it is very small and not considerable enough to change the state of the industry, well not yet at least.

As more tablets enter the market, and prices begin to drop, I have no doubt that the percentage of tablet owners will rise considerably.

In the meantime, publishers will have the chance to perfect their apps.

“With these findings, content providers and advertisers can design new experiences to have the most meaning and relevance among tablet news enthusiasts,” said Kate Sirkin, Starcom Mediavest’s EVP of Global Research, according to Media Post, “such as offering more opportunities to customize, interact, and engage with stories and ads.”